Effects of the leaf:fruit ratio on some quality components of 'Lirfa' mango.
Léchaudel M., Jannoyer M., Joas M.
Author Affiliation: CIRAD-Flhor, Station de Bassin Martin, BP 180, 97455 Saint Pierre Cedex, Ile de La Réunion, France.
: 435-439
Abstract : A study was conducted to analyse the effects of various levels of assimilate supply (three leaf:fruit ratios i.e., 25, 50 and 100 leaves per fruit) on fruit growth composition and fruit quality in mango cv. Lirfa. Fruits were harvested every week in each treatment for two months after girdling. Fruit fresh weight increased with time for all treatments. Fruit growth rates increased with higher leaf:fruit ratio. At maturity, fruit weights were approximately 375, 440 and 590 g, respectively, for the three treatments. The quantities of starch, sucrose, fructose and citric acid per fruit increased as the leaf:fruit ratio increased. At the final harvest date, the pulp of Lifra mango fruit was composed mainly of starch (~47%), sucrose (24%), fructose (16%) and citric acid (9%). The quantity of malic acid was negligible. The effect of leaf:fruit ratio was less important on minerals, for which the increase was just visible on K+ and Mg2+. Acidity decreased as the fruit developed and was not affected by leaf:fruit ratio. The total soluble solids (TSS) remained stable during the main part of fruit growth and increased considerably during the last two weeks of the experiment. Higher leaf:ratio recorded greater TSS. Pulp dry matter content increased steadily as the fruit developed and was improved by higher leaf:fruit ratios.